Wednesday, August 15, 1945. VP Day.

US Federal employees received a two day holiday.

Today In Wyoming's History: August 15: 

August 15

Today is Victory over Japan Day

 VJ Day Crowd in  Times Squire, New York City, August 14, 1945.

1945    The Allies proclaimed V-J Day, one day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally.  Hirohito's surrender message is broadcast to the Japanese people.  Japanese aircraft raid TF 38, 12 hours after Hirohito's surrender order.  Soviet aircraft sink 860 ton frigate Kenju off Hokkaido; last Japanese warship lost during World War II.A two-day holiday is proclaimed for all federal employees. In New York, Mayor La Guardia pays tribute to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the deceased president, in a radio broadcast.  US Task Force 38 launches massive air strikes on the Tokyo area, encountering numerous Japanese fighters but the aircraft are recalled upon receipt of the surrender announcement. Vice-Admiral Ugaki, commanding Kamikaze operations, leads a final mission but the 7 dive-bombers are shot down off Tokyo before they can reach Okinawa. South Korea was liberated after nearly 40 years of Japanese colonial rule.  US gasoline rationing ends.

Wait a minute.  I thought you said yesterday was VJ Day?

I did.  Actually there's some dispute on whether the 14th, when Truman read the news and when Hirohito actually stated Japan would surrender, or today, the following day, is VJ, or VP Day.  I actually would have supported today being the more widely supported one, but not everyone does.  FWIW, 

15 August is the official V-J Day for the United Kingdom,. 2 September.for the US.

VP stood for Victory in the Pacific.

It was still a pretty tense day in the war zone.

Hirohito's surrender was broadcast by Japanese radio.

This was the first time most Japanese had heard their Emperor speak, and as it was delivered in classical Japanese, which most Japanese did not speak, it was difficult to understand.

US Task Force 38 launched massive air strikes on the Tokyo area which was heavily resisted, but the attack was recalled when the surrender announcement was learned of.

Vice-Admiral Ugaki, commanding Kamikaze operations, leads a final mission but all seven dive-bombers are shot down off Tokyo before they can reach Okinawa

The Battle of Baoying began in central Jiangsu, China as part of the Chinese Civil War.  Chiang Kai-shek, meanwhile,  made a radio broadcast noting China's fight with Japan since 1937.  

Chu Teh, the Commander in Chief of the Chinese Communist army, warns the Allies that the Communists expect a share in the Japanese surrender and postwar settlement, a bold statement considering the general sit on their butt attitude of the Chinese Communist forces during the war.

The Nationalist Chinese and the Soviet Union signed a Treaty of Friendship returning Manchuria to China.  Chinese Communists were excluded.

The Soviets received Port Arthur.

Philippe Pétain was sentenced to death for treason, but Charles de Gaulle gave him a reprieve on account of his age.

Gen. Korechika Anami, Japanese War Minister, committed suicide at age 58.

Celebrations broke out in Australia.

Last edition:

Tuesday,. August 14, 1945. VJ Day. World War Two ends. New wars start.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, August Revolution, Battle of Sakhalin, Douglas MacArthur, French Empire, French Indochina, French Indochinese War, Harry S. Truman, Hirohito, Japan, Kyūjō Incident, Manchuria, Red Army, World War Two

Tuesday, July 29, 1945. The sinking of the USS Indianapolis. The 509th Composite Group receives orders for Operation Silverplate. The last Medal of Honor of World War Two.

The USS Indianapolis was sunk by the submarine I-58. Secrecy due to its role in delivering the atomic bomb to Tinian would keep its sinking secrete for several days, leading to the greatest mass shark attack in history.

The 509th Composite Group of the United States Air Force received the order that would lead to the dropping of the first atomic bomb.

Melvin Mayfield performed the actions that resulted in his winning the Medal of Honor.

He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while fighting in the Cordillera Mountains of Luzon, Philippine Islands. When 2 Filipino companies were pinned down under a torrent of enemy fire that converged on them from a circular ridge commanding their position, Cpl. Mayfield, in a gallant single-handed effort to aid them, rushed from shell hole to shell hole until he reached 4 enemy caves atop the barren fire-swept hill. With grenades and his carbine, he assaulted each of the caves while enemy fire pounded about him. However, before he annihilated the last hostile redoubt, a machinegun bullet destroyed his weapon and slashed his left hand. Disregarding his wound, he secured more grenades and dauntlessly charged again into the face of pointblank fire to help destroy a hostile observation post. By his gallant determination and heroic leadership, Cpl. Mayfield inspired the men to eliminate all remaining pockets of resistance in the area and to press the advance against the enemy.

You'll note that this occurred on Luzon, which the US had declared to be secured. 

He survived the war and died in 1990 at age 71.  

His action was the last action of the war to result in a Medal of Honor.

Henry Ford issued a statement declaring:

the nation and the world are on the threshold of a prosperity and standard of living that never before were considered possible.

I'm not a fan of Ford's, but he was correct, perhaps beyond his wildest imagination.

The British 8th Army, the Desert Rats, was disbanded.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 28, 1945. Taking no notice.

Labels: 1940s 1945, boats and ships, Cartoons, Clement Attlee, Disaster, Imperial Japanese Army, Imperial Japanese Navy, Japan, New York, Potsdam Conference, U.S. Air Force, United Nations, World War Two

Saturday, July 28, 1945. Taking no notice.

Japanese Prime Minister Kantarō Suzuki gave a response to the Potsdam Declaration stating that Japan would "take no notice" of the Potsdam Declaration. 

A B-25 flying in heavy fog struck the Empire State Building.

B-29s bombed Aomori.

Japanese battleships Haruna and Ise and,the aircraft carrier Amagi, the old cruiser Izumo, the light cruiser Oyodo and a destroyer were sunk by aircraft.

The USS Callaghan was sunk by a Yokosuka K5Y kamikaze attack off Okinawa.

The Japanese 28th Army attempted to withdraw across the Sittang River in Burma, suffering over 13,000 killed and drowned in the attempt.

The Potsdam Conference resulmeds with the appearance of Prime Minister Attlee.

The Senate ratified the Charter of the United Nations.

Jim Davis, the creator of the Garfield comic strip,was born in Marion, Indiana.

Last edition:

Friday, July 27, 1945. Preparing the bomb.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Chinese Army, Imperial Japanese Army, Japan, Tinian, U.S. Air Force, United Kingdom, Weapons, Winston Churchill, World War Two

Wednesday, July 25, 1945. Truman orders the atomic bomb used on Japan.

Truman ordered the bomb dropped on Japan.  The news was conveyed to the military to accomplish the act.

The Potsdam Conference took a recess so that the British delegation could return to the UK to hear the election results.

Marshall Pétain spoke at his trial for the first time, stating he was deaf and had not heard a thing that had been said in court up to that time.

American cruisers Pasadena, Springfield, Wilkes-Barre and Astoria bombarded Japanese air bases in southern Honshu. 

US aircraft attacked Kure naval base and the airfields at Nagoya, Osaka and Miho for a second day, sinking the battleships Hyuga, Ise, and Haruna, the escort carrier Kaiyo and the heavy cruisers Aoba and Iwate are all sunk. The Japanese put up no resistance.

The US declared that Mindanao was free of organized Japanese resistance.

The Japanese pulled out of Taunggyi in the Shan states, Burma.

British naval and air units continued attacks on Japanese positions and transportation targets on the west coast of Malaya.

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 24, 1945. An unsurprised Stalin.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Aircraft, boats and ships, China, Espionage, Harry S. Truman, Japan, Joseph Stalin, Nuclear power, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Weapons

Wednesday, July 11, 1945. Redeploying.

"Joyous Second Division Marines, about to board ship for home after more than thirty months overseas, were not forgotten by the famed division mascot "Eight Ball", who was on hand to bid them a sorrowful goodbye. Saipan. 11 July, 1945. Photographer: Rohde. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive."

The first meeting of the Inter-Allied Council for Berlin took place in which the USSR agreed to hand over civilian and military control of West Berlin to the UK and US.

The Japanese destroyer Sakura hit a mine and sank in Osaka Harbor.

The 8th Air Force began to redeploy from Europe to Okinawa, where they were to receive B-29s after initially having a training role.  The redeployment of its aircraft to the continental US also began on this day.

The US used napalm on resistant Japanese targets on Luzon.

Fadil Hoxha became President of the Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija.

Last edition:

Friday, July 10, 1945. Sentimental Journey.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Augustów roundup, German Kriegsmarine, Men, Music, Poland, Polish anti-communist insurrection, The Cold War, The relationship between men and women, USSR, Women, World War Two

Wednesday, June 27, 1945. Giving Japan a warning.

Under Secretary of the Navy Ralph Bard suggested giving Japan a warning about the atomic bomb.

US forces completed the occupation of Luzon's Cagayan Valley.  The island is accordingly nearly fully under US control.

The I-165 was sunk east of Saipan by a US PV-2 Harpoon.

The USS Bunker Hill was struck by a kamikaze resulting in the death of 373 men.

Dr. Emil Hacha, age 73, the former president of the German sponsored "Bohemia-Moravia Protectorate," died in the Prague prison hospital while awaiting trial.

Edward Stettinius resigned as Secretary of State to take up the post of ambassador to the United Nations.

Last edition:

Tuesday, June 26, 1945. The United Nations Charter signed, Manhattan Project scientists worry, Marilyn appears in Yank,

Labels: 1940s, 1945, China, Chinese Army, Joseph Stalin, Manhattan Project, Marilyn Monroe, U.S. Air Force, United Nations, Weapons, World War Two

Friday, June 22, 1945. The Battle of Okinawa ends.

The Battle of Okinawa ended. It was the last major ground battle of World War Two.

Today in World War II History—June 22, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—June 22, 1945: Battle for Okinawa officially ends at a high cost—12,520 Americans and 110,000 Japanese were killed, plus 42,000 civilians.

June 22, 1945: The Battle of Okinawa

Operation Ten-Go, the last major Japanese naval operation, concluded.

Gen. MacArthur announced that Gen. Joseph Stilwell would replace Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. as commander of the U.S. Tenth Army.

Emperor Hirohito directed his government to find a way to peace talks.

Japanese generals Isamu Chō, 50, and Mitsuru Ushijima, 57,  committed suicide on Okinawa.

The Japanese withdrew from Liuchow.

Last edition:

Thursday, June 21, 1945. Fall of Hill 89.

Labels: 1940, 1940s, 1945, Australian Army, boats and ships, Borneo, Kamikaze, Luzon, Okinawa, Operation Iceberg, Operation Ten-Go, Polish Home Army, USSR, World War Two

Wednesday, June 13, 1945. Taking the Oruku Peninsula.

The Australian 9th Infantry Division captured Brunei.

Okinawa, June 13, 1945.

Japanese resistance on Okinawa's Oruku peninsula came to an end.  Marines took 169 Japanese POWs and found 200 dead, a surprising figure given Japanese unwillingness to surrender.

Admiral Minoru Ōta, age 54, killed himself on Okinawa.

U.S. Army ordnance experts claimed that German plans to attack the United States with rockets, Projekt Amerika, might have been realized by November 1945.

The German design, a development of the V-2 but significantly different, actually would have required a pilot, as existing guidance systems were regarded as inadequate.

Last edition:

Tuesday, June 12, 1945. The suicide of the Japanese Marines.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Army, Blog Mirror, Dwight Eisenhower, Imperial Japanese Marines, Italy, New York, Okinawa, Philippines, Railroads, United States Marine Corps, World War Two

Saturday, April 7, 1945. Desperate efforts.

The Japanese Imperial Navy launched an ill advised doomed kamikaze attack with ten warships, including the Yamato off of Okinawa.  The Yamato was sun k with a loss of 2,055 of its 2,332 crewmembers, and five other Japanese ships went down as well.

The Luftwaffe also engaged in a suicide mission, sending out 120 student pilots about against a 1,000 plane US raid.  They were to ram their aircraft into the Americans ones, and hopefully parachute out.

Most of the pilots missed their targets and most were shot down.

Operation Amherst commenced which saw the Free French and SAS launch an effort to capture Dutch canals, bridges and airfields intact.

Kantarō Suzuki replaced Kuniaki Koiso as Prime Minister of Japan.

Last edition:

Friday, April 6, 1945. Operation Ten-Go.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Australian Army, Bougainville, Imperial Japanese Navy, Italy, Kamikaze, Okinawa, Operation Grapeshot, Operation Ten-Go, U.S. Navy, World War Two

Friday, April 6, 1945. Operation Ten-Go.

Operation Grapeshot, the Allied Spring offensive in Italy, began.

Australians on Bougainville, where fighting was still ongoing, prevailed in the Battle of Slater's Knoll.

"Men of U.S. Tenth Army make their way through a mine field, detonating mines with their own cannon. Okinawa. 6 April, 1945. 6 April, 1945."

Massive kamikaze attacks take place off of Okinawa in Operation Ten-Go, a full scale suicide attack involving surface and aircraft assets.  The Yamamoto leaves for Okinawa with only enough fuel to get there, where the plan is to beach the ship and fight in that fashion.

American destroyers Bush, Colhoun, Leutze, Morris, Mullany, Newcomb, Rodman and Witter hit by kamikazes off Okinawa. The Bush and Colhoun were sunk and the Leutze and Necomb were subsequently declared constructive total losses.

The Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze was beached at Amoy after an attack by American B-25s.

Last edition:

Thursday, April 5, 1945. Rebellion of the Georgian Legion.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, boats and ships, Chester Nimitz, Diplomacy, Douglas MacArthur, Freeman Field Mutiny, German Wehrmacht, Japan, Operation Downfall, Pacific, Racism, U.S. Air Force, USSR, World War Two

Saturday, March 31, 1945. Liberated.

"Children of the Soviet Union whose parents were captured by the Germans and made to work in one of the German aircraft and rubber tire plants at Sanbach Odenwald, Germany, are shown playing a game.

The factory Seventh Army troops found intact when they pushed through. Note the white flag flying in background. This factory made automobile, airplane, bicycle tires and [censored] for Messerschmitts. 31 March, 1945. Photographer: T/5 Louis Weintraub, 163rd Signal Photo Co. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive.

The Red Army prevailed in the Upper Silesian Offensive.

The U.S. Navy sank the I-8 off of Okinawa.

The British and Nationalist  Chinese armies took Kyaukme.

The French 1st Army crossed t he Rhine near Speyer.

Last edition:

Friday, March 30, 1945. Mère Marie Élisabeth de l'Eucharistie gassed at Ravensbruck. Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose killed in action.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Army, Catholic, Christianity, Colorado (Denver), Croatia, German SS, Heroes, Judaism, Music, P, Protestant, Ravensbruck, Red Army, religion, The Blues, Waffen SS, War Crimes, World War Two

Wednesday, March 28, 1945. Guderian gets his release.

Hitler fired Guderian as Chief of the OKH following an argument. His replacement was Hans Krebs.

Guderian, as we've noted before, would survive the war.  He was released from being held as a POW in 1948, never prosecuted for war crimes, and died in 1954 at age 65.

Krebs killed himself on May 2, 1945.

Eisenhower telegrammed Stalin with his plans for advancing in Germany.  The British, who were not consulted, protested.

The Red Army captured Balga.

The U.S. 80th Infantry Division captured Wiesbaden.

The 3d Corps took Marburg.

The USS Trigger was sunk by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the East China Sea.

The Battle of Slater's Knoll began between Australian and Japanese forces on Bougainville.

Last edition:

Tuesday, March 27, 1945. The last rockets.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Argentina, Artillery, Battle for Cebu City, German Kriegsmarine, Nazi Germany, Philippines, Royal Navy, Weapons